How Megan lost 200 pounds (& ended up on the Today Show)

Originally posted at: http://www.nerdfitness.com/

Fasten your seatbelt, because today we’re going to highlight a truly amazing nerd in the Rebellion.

Meet Megan, a member of Nerd Fitness Coaching who is currently celebrating losing over 200 pounds!

(That’s not a typo.)

Megan’s journey is so amazing that the Today Show recently spotlighted her!

My favorite part of Megan’s story?

She decided to stop letting the scale define her!

Megan actually went and smashed her scale in one of those rage rooms:

Epic.

Instead of stressing about the scale, Megan now focuses her goals on athletic performance, like doing chin-ups and running 5Ks.

How cool is that!?!

So without further ado, let’s dig into Megan’s jaw-dropping transformation.

The 6 Keys to Megan’s Success

#1) Megan Found Her “Big Why”

When you ask Megan why she began her most recent weight loss attempt, she responds quickly with “my children.”

“Being a parent at 350 pounds, there’s so much that I couldn’t do:

• Climbing stairs.
• Going for a walk.
• Taking a trip to the amusement park.

I knew I wanted to make changes so I could be a part of their life. When I have days where motivation is tricky, I think of them.”

Takeaway: Here in the Rebellion, we often recommended the first step of any fitness journey be “determine your Big Why.”

We should ask ourselves, why am I doing this?

Knowing the answer will help when our journey gets difficult (and inevitable it will).

On these challenging days, we can remind ourselves:

• I’m doing this to lower my blood pressure.
• I’m doing this so I can hike with my friends.
• I’m doing this so I can spend time with my children.

Once we have our Big Why, it’s important to write it down. Then we should try and place it somewhere we’ll see often, like a desk or bathroom mirror.

The “Why am I doing this?” reminder can be helpful for the journey ahead.

#2) Megan Started Making “Small Changes”

This wasn’t Megan’s first attempt to get in shape (“I had tried for YEARS!”).

So after many frustrating starts, she decided to switch things up.

“I had made the typical New Year’s resolution to lose weight, but this time I knew I had to approach it differently because nothing had worked in the past.

So I said, I don’t care how long it’s going to take, I’m going to go slow. I’ll make one small change at a time and not burn myself out.

When thinking about what to prioritize, I had read that losing weight is 80% about nutrition, so I made that 100% of my focus.

I didn’t try to add exercise right away. I knew that every time I tried to do too many changes at once, it was too much to sustain long-term.

But one small change (like switching from orange juice to water in the morning, or eating pasta as a meal to eating pasta as a side dish) led to others. Once I started to see results, I was addicted!

Adding small changes over time created a snowball effect. The steady momentum had been missing every other time I attempted to lose weight.”

Takeaway: We always advise Rebels who want to get in shape to start small.

Time and time again, we’ve found this is the pace that prevents burnout.

Plus, once we start to see these small changes produce results, we’ll want to make more!

This is how we gain momentum for the long haul.

#3) Megan Asked for Help

Megan started her weight loss journey all by herself (which is crazy impressive). But after a while, she knew she needed help to keep progressing.

“All the changes I had made over time had led to some very restrictive ways of eating. Eventually, I realized I had eliminated whole food groups from my diet (I was even nervous about eating bananas).

I had been dieting for what felt like forever (15 months), and I was burnt out. I was unsure what to do next to transition from a weight loss journey to a maintenance journey.

This coupled with everything I read about losing weight very quickly, and the statistics around re-gain, made me realize that it was time to get help. Over a year of dieting left me smaller yes, but also weaker and feeling trapped in a way of eating that no longer felt sustainable to my current life.

That’s when I decided to hire a coach.”

Takeaway: It’s truly insane that Megan was able to lose over 100 pounds, only using information she found on the internet.

But it’s also amazing that Megan understood that she had exhausted her solo journey – that it was time to ask for help.

This is okay!

Our fitness journeys will change.

Sometimes, it takes an expert to explain what we should do next. Occasionally, only an outside pair of eyes can see the path forward.

#4) Megan Decided to Get Strong

“My coach helped me switch away from a scale-focused mentality. Instead of thinking of body size, I started to think about what my body can do.

My coach asked, what do I want to accomplish?

So we started planning goals around:

• Running a 5K (which I did with the Rebellion with the Nerd Fitness 5K!)
• Completing my first Chin-up (which I also did as part of a NF Group Challenge!)
• Deadlifting my entire weight

All of these things I never dreamed of when I was 350lbs…I just wanted to walk up a flight of stairs without being out of breath.”

Takeaway: I’m so happy that Megan transitioned from “wanting to be small to wanting to be strong.”

This really is the secret to long-term weight loss success. Every single client we’ve had who successfully lost significant weight (and kept it off) started some type of strength training.

Yep, resistance training can actually help us stay lean!

How should we go about it?

Any way we can!

Sure, we could go to the gym and start playing with barbells.

But we could also start a routine right in our living room with no equipment whatsoever.

Although a pet sidekick can help.

Just remember, when in doubt, attempt to grow strong.

#5) Megan Kept Moving (Even After Her Surgery)

After losing so much weight, Megan decided to remove some excess skin with surgery.

The problem: this would mean Megan would have to stop her weight training while she recovered.

However, her doctor said she could walk instead, explaining she could stroll “as far as you can.”

“Challenge accepted,” Megan told herself.

“My friend Karen comes over and we go for walks together. It’s such a release being out in nature, plus I’m still challenging myself with nearby hills. We hold each other accountable, even on days that neither of us feels so great.

Over time, I’ve gone up to 10, 15 miles a day.”

Takeaway: Things will happen and our training will have to adapt:

• Maybe we’ll have to deal with an injury and pause heavy lifting.
• Maybe our gym will shut down.
• Or maybe we’ll have to deal with surgeries.

When these cases arise, we should still attempt to move, whatever way our body allows.

That’s how we continue to maintain momentum.

#6) Megan Joined a Community

“When I joined NF Coaching, I knew I was getting a coach. But I didn’t know I was getting a community.”

The energy around the Group Challenges is simply contagious and it’s gotten me out of my comfort zone to try things that I may not otherwise have attempted.

The support of the community, knowing there’s an amazing group of people going through similar things as I am, has really helped on the days I’m struggling.

Takeaway: Well that just warms my heart.

Small Changes Can Lead to Incredible Feats

I asked Megan what advice she would give to somebody who had a lot of weight to lose.

She replied:

Wise and beautiful words.

I’m so proud of everything Megan has accomplished and honored that she trusted Nerd Fitness Coaching to propel her journey.

As she explained to me, “I can say with absolute certainty that I wouldn’t be in the place I am without the coaching program. I have learned so much about what my body is capable of and how to continue to challenge it through this process.”

If you think you’re in a place where NF Coaching can help you too, we’d be thrilled to talk together.

You can schedule a call to see if we’re right for each other right here:

Learn more about Nerd Fitness Coaching!

Not interested?

No problem.

If you decide not to try coaching, I’ll still be here offering free guides and corny jokes to help you level up your life.

Remember, Megan lost over 100 pounds all from material she pulled online!

While a coach can be super helpful when you have a lot of weight to lose, don’t let the absence of one prevent you from taking your first step.

You just have to start small, like Megan did.

-Steve

PS: Megan’s “Big Why” started with her children and they’ve leveled up right alongside her!

Megan told me:

“For me, the biggest change has been a mental one.

Transitioning from wanting to be small to wanting to be strong. And it has been such a joy to see my children pick up these habits and want to be strong with me.

Sometimes when we’re on a walk together and I’m feeling tired, my 8-year-old daughter will say ‘you can do this mom, we are strong women’ and I just smile because yes, yes we are.”

OMG, that’s cool AF!

What an amazing family:

PPS: If you want to follow along with Megan’s adventures, make sure you check out her Instagram!

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The post How Megan lost 200 pounds (& ended up on the Today Show) first appeared on Nerd Fitness.

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